@@TrainerRoad Brian Zimny is the 2018 USA Masters Road champ (Petes Coffee with the stars and stripes sock)...he was in your break...and I gotta check but in the field there were at least 2 other National Champs
DUDE! 8th place is STILL in the TOP TEN!.... Once, decades ago, when a padded leather hairnet met the "helmet" requirement, I was in a Cat4 race. It was very cold and windy, early season racing. I was feeling a little sick, too. But 35 of us started out on a 20mile crit, with a vicious headwind on the backside of the course. There was an early prime lap, and still near the front, I figured winning a tire was better than nothing. I was a pretty good sprinter, (like Peter Sagan in my DREAMS!), and I took the prime, but that burned ALL my matches. I dropped back, and watched the rest of the pack ride away. I was alone off the back, and considering just dropping out. But there was this Marine, in uniform, from the local Marine base. Every time I came by, he'd yell, and yell, and YELL! He could tell I was hurting! He kept yelling "stay in the race", "you can do it", etc., so I did. After a few laps, I felt a little better, and even caught up and passed a few stragglers. I ended up 8th out of 14 finishers. *21* guys abandoned the race! I enjoyed the video, EXCELLENT quality!, - and the commentary. *THANK-YOU*!....(....mutter, mutter, gimme Reynolds 531 double butted, Campy record groupo, Mavic rims, old school!, LOL....
Great story. However Reynolds 753 was around in the mid 70s onwards and was the desirable tubeset for most enthusiasts/racers from that time period that I recall as a kid as well as stuff from Columbus, Vitus et al though less common here in the UK than Reynolds. Many only had the money for R531 but that was good enough in any case. My first race bike was a proper 'gas pipe' Raleigh that I got for my 13th birthday, I only had eyes for Suntour though, I'd heard that it shifted better than anything else, I saved 4 years of my paper round money and bought a Falcon though it had fairly basic components but it looked the dogs.lol As for helmets, meh, proven time and again in every country (and for other activities/sports too) to only make matters worse, both at a racing/competition level and for every day cyclists.
@@tonyfranklin8306 Yeah, you're right, but 753 was kinda' pricey, and besides my Holdsworth frameset had 531, so.... And SUNTOUR? Yeah, Shimano had a very BAD reputation in the early to mid 1980's. I think they had poor design and metallurgy. Their components broke all the time, and couldn't be repaired. I always liked Suntour better, and thought it shifted fine, for back then. Funny, but I had a Falcon, too, for a couple years. Still have the head badge. I think that was the frame I broke when I slammed into the back of a BMW stopped to make a left turn. I had my head down, and was sprinting up the slight hill. Had to *carry* it home! LOL It's cold, windy, and spitting snow here in New Hampshire, but I STILL rode my Jamis Ventura! (OK, it's a "sport touring" bike, but I can still pretend I'm Peter Sagan in the Tour on it!....).... Go to "google.com/images", and type in "vintage falcon bicycle". Enjoy!
I've been reading these comments from these wannabe back seat racers...wow. Dude, you're a cat 4 driving the break with some of the best racers in NorCal. I've been racing with these guys for years and you did an amazing job. Obviously having input from Pete always helps. But seriously, great job
Your power and fitness are on par with everyone in that race. Time to WOOORK on skill-building and tactics. That with a bit more experience, you will be an absolute killer! Your intuition and timing are already VERY good.
Nice vid and summary. You were right, that last corner you took at 18/19mph whereas before you were low 20s, that made such a massive difference to your exit speed + position which was, as you rightly identified down to you not holding station/not being aggressive enough leading into that corner. So it compounded your problem such that the effort you then had to make was huge and you'd lost the back wheel by that point in the final stretch so tripled the problem (and again you identified). But for a 4th Cat to be amongst 1st Cat you performed superbly and you learnt a lot on how to manage your efforts and where to place yourself. Good luck for the future
Man that was good to watch, felt the adrenaline in that last lap.... wasnt bad at all theres only so much you can do against that type of leadout train. Good job!
Yah, I could follow closer. The lens makes it look a little farther than it is. If you look at other people they are sorta the same?...but yes...something I need to work on. I just love my one intact collar bone so, so much.
Thats the difference between a 4 and the higher cats. I think after a lap or two they pegged you for a 4. But keep at it, learn how to hold that wheel in turns, and you will start the sprints in 3rd wheel instead of 10th.
Before Nate 4:58 : smooth looking, tight break of Cat 1s. After Nate: chaos 9:40 If the break is cruising along at 28 mph, then it always seemed appropriate to me pull through and hold 28 mph. I don't know where I got that crazy idea.
You were probably one of the strongest in the race. Keep closer to the wheel in front. Don't close the gaps yourself. Flick the elbow and look at the others to take their turn. You have to watch who's attacking and keep them close; if they go, you go and no delay. When you got swamped at the end, you have to stay on the wheel of the guy in the black shorts. Get feisty and protect the wheel you;re following. You own that wheel and that wheel is yours by right. NO one has rights to that wheel other than you. Basically, you blown your lot by closing so many big gaps on your own. Let others close the gap and keep your nose out of the wind. Literally look at others to do the work. Puff a lot and look tired when a gap goes so others will go around you and close the gap for you; Once they go to close the gap then jump on their wheel. You're extremely strong but you need to preserve every watt for the finish.
John makes an excellent point in that you have a big motor for a Cat 4. You bridged up to that break pretty quick. With an FTP that high you'll be riding with those guys all the time.
@@TrainerRoad Ride crits.. ones with turns and especially aggressive ones where you are uncomfortable. You will get gapped everywhere and the turns will initially freak you out and put you on your brakes. Practice makes perfect. Learning how to ride in an aggressive group takes time to learn and initially it's not a comfortable situation.
Nice effort. Great video. I've been in that exact position on the last lap so many times.... Fight for your position until the end. It's just another 20, 30 seconds more of grind...
Most people have no idea of how hard it is to bridge across to a breakaway group, especially when they are clearly strong riders and not letting up an inch. Well done for that alone, let alone getting 8th.
ewe gotta JUMP early.....way before the last turn.....and hammer like there is NO tomorrow.... then....you got it!!! Also.....what I used to do is.....lay back on turns....and then accelerate through the turns......so much easier!!! Crits are my forte!!!
@ 3:36 He was pulling more than he should, because the guy on his wheel had a teammate up the road, and was NOT going to help. It took Nate and Josh a minute to figure out they were going to have to take a turn.
I get the whole playing it smart and easy while you can, but you'll never get better unless you just do it yourself, and possibly fail. No? Just a thought. Great video.
This is a good video in terms of seeing what's going wrong. You should worry less on the numbers and concentrate more on being smooth and keeping the gaps tight - you'll find it much easier. You're really strong, but you'd be much better with a bit of bunch craft.
Well I'd say the very momentary/split second peaks he hit were not indicative, if you look at the point a few seconds later were he's chasing down in the final straight hitting circa 35mph without any draft whatsoever his watts are around 860, still pretty good but not out of this world . 900Watts on the flat equates to roughly 36mph for a 185lb guy with a 15lb bike He was clearly busted through his earlier efforts so probably would have had a bit more at the end without that.
Your fitness is beyond a cat 4 you just need to hone your skill. I noticed your major issue is your pulls need to be smoother and maybe a bit closer on the rear wheel.
Thanks for the feedback Gerald! These videos are a huge learning process for me as well, so hopefully, with some more constructive criticism, I'll be able to rapidly improve my race strategy and execution.
@@TrainerRoad ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tC00-iflXXc.html practice doing some echelons with a friend, you just roll through and keep a steady pace. good luck!
@@TrainerRoad I think it just needs to be normalised which will level out the levels. Nate's a bit quiet. I'm sure you guys do something similar on the podcast production
Andy Saiden I agree. We’re using the Garmin Virb software that only lets you show one “speed” at a time. I think we can encode it twice though and get both speeds.
Andy Saiden we went to dinner with Jeff from NorCal Cycling last week! He used another software that kept crashing on our computers. :(. He’s offered to help us out though!
Haha that’s a good question. come race and you will find out. It’s like an If a excellent high school or really good college freshmen was allowed to play with the semi pro teams for a game. Or a mixed leagues of college and semi pros. Ya you can be on the field and maybe make a few plays but you probably get out played or hurt.
